Nigeria Top Minister Urges the Government to Embrace Crypto

The crypto industry and the Nigerian government aren’t exactly best friends as the officials have been strict with their views on the digital assets industry. It is famously known that Nigeria, the largest African country, doesn’t accept the virtual currencies. However, not all of them see eye-to-eye on the situation.

Prince Clem Agba, Minister of State for Budget and National Planning seems to believe that the anti-crypto regulation in the country could have grim consequences in the future. His comments appear in a recent report by Bloomberg. 

The minister noted that “uncertainty in regulating cryptocurrencies risks denying government and citizens the chance to maximize opportunities from the technology,” the report said

The statement comes amidst the country’s rising financial issues. Nigeria is suffering from a currency devaluation and double-digit inflation as millions of households are seeking alternatives to get them out of the rut. The country’s youths turned to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as alternatives, leading adoption rates in the entire continent. Nigeria ranked second place after the US on Paxful’s crypto adoption list.

After the forceful crypto ban and blockage of accounts associated with cryptocurrency trading, the country went ahead to launch its own CBDC called the eNaira with the intention to replace cryptocurrencies by improving financial inclusion and digitizing payments. The CBDC imitate cryptocurrencies as it is also built using blockchain technology, stored in a digital wallet, and can be transferred at zero cost.

It has been noticed, however, that it lacks the decentralization cryptocurrencies have since it is under the direct control of CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria). eNaira also has daily transaction limits and other layers that are dependent on citizens possessing certain means of identifications.

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